Audrey Hepburn was known for her elegance, poise, accent and ability to make literally any item of clothing look like couture. As one of the most popular golden era stars (and one of the most stylish), she was photographed by legendary photographers from Terry O'Neill to Douglas Kirkland - and a new book of gorgeous pictures of the actress has just been released.
Titled Always Audrey, the curated book includes Norman Parkinson's iconic floral photograph and candid snaps of the actress behind the scenes. From powder pink cocktail dresses to gingham trousers, Hepburn's sense of style shone through in the pictures whether she was on or off-duty.
Always Audrey is out now and available for purchase here.
Although the star might have once said, "I never thought I'd land in pictures with a face like mine," the book is proof that she very much belonged in front of the camera - although it certainly helps that most of what she wore was carefully crafted specifically for her by Hubert de Givenchy himself.
The actress became close friends with designer, who won an Oscar for his work on her movies and penned the book To Audrey with Love, showcasing almost 300 sketches of the designs he created for her to wear both in her professional and personal life.
He created her most iconic looks, including the classic black and white gown she wore in Sabrina and her little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Givenchy also famously dressed Princess Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy.
“After I had done a few sketches, I am thinking why don’t I dedicate all these drawings to Audrey? Everyone loves her. She is not only a legend but an extraordinary human being,” Givenchy told The Telegraph.
Here, we look at how she became the ultimate fashion icon, whose picture hangs on dorm room walls all over the world and whose LBDs so often emulated.
Audrey Hepburn's early life
Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium in 1929 to a Dutch Baroness mother and British father. She grew up in England before moving to the Netherlands during World War II. She originally trained to become a ballerina, both in England and the Netherlands, before taking bit parts in West End musicals and then in British films.
She won Best Actress in 1954 for her breakout role in Roman Holiday. From there, she went on to star in classics Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Funny Face, My Fair Lady and Sabrina. Her co-stars were almost as impressive as her filmography. She starred alongside matinee idols Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant.
Audrey Hepburn's personal style
In her early days as an actress, Hepburn favored classic tailored tartan ensembles and hyper-feminine frocks. Her style became famously Audrey Hepburn when she partnered with Hubert de Givenchy on her film looks and personal outfits.
The duo started working together on Sabrina. “Paramount Studios called. I was told that ‘Miss Hepburn’ was coming to look for clothes for her new movie, ‘Sabrina.’ Since I loved Katharine Hepburn’s style and look, I thought this was fantastic. But when the door of my studio opened, there stood a young woman, very slim, very tall, with doe eyes and short hair and wearing a pair of narrow pants, a little T-shirt, slippers and a gondolier’s hat with red ribbon that read ‘Venezia.’
I told her ‘Mademoiselle, I would love to help you, but I have very few sewers, I am in the middle of doing a collection, I can’t make you clothes.’ So she said, ‘Show me what you have already made for the collection.’ We just changed the top of the evening dress when she dances with William Holden in the tennis court from black jersey to a white organza bustier since it was for a summer ball,” he told The New York Times about their first meeting.
Of course, they quickly became a matchless pairing. “Audrey was someone who knew perfectly how to dress, and knew perfectly what she should wear,” he said.
Hepburn echoed his compliments. "His are the only clothes in which I am myself. He is far more than a couturier, he is a creator of personality," she said.
In 2006, the little black Givenchy dress which famously featured in Breakfast at Tiffany's was sold for £467,200 - the highest price paid for a dress from a film and a sign of Hepburn's lasting legacy as a style icon.
Audrey Hepburn's love life - including three engagements
In 1952, Hepburn planned a wedding to wealthy British businessman James Hanson, who just so happened to be on the brink of becoming a Lord. She ultimately called off the wedding, despite investing in a custom ivory satin wedding gown by Italian fashion designer Zoe Fontana which would later be auctioned off. Luckily, she had plenty of other ornate dresses in her future, including two more wedding dresses.
In 1954, she married Mel Ferrer, an actor and movie director she met at a party hosted by Gregory Peck. He was 12 years older, twice-divorced and had four children. They starred onstage together in the Broadway show Ondine and later in the film War & Peace.
They were married in a small ceremony in Switzerland. Hepburn wore a tea-length dress with a satin sash designed with Pierre Balmain - long before Balmain became the go-to designer for Kardashians seeking army-inspired clubwear. They had a son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. From the right angle, Audrey's granddaughter, Emma Ferrer, looks just like her famous grandmother.
Hepburn’s mother must have been relieved when the pair divorced in 1968 after 14 years of marriage. She famously called Ferrer the “frog faced delinquent with the spindly legs."
In 1969, Audrey married Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in a town hall ceremony in Switzerland.
For her second wedding, she unsurprisingly chose a dress by Hubert de Givenchy. It was a long-sleeved mini-dress in pale pink, paired with ballet flats and a matching headscarf.
She gave birth to their son, Luca Dotti, who wrote about her in Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen. "She thought she had a big nose and big feet, and she was too skinny and not enough breast. She would look in the mirror and say, ‘I don’t understand why people see me as beautiful,'" he wrote.
Audrey and Andrea were married for 12 years until they divorced in 1982.
Hepburn was also rumored to have had quite a few Hollywood dalliances along the way, including with her Sabrina co-star William Holden, screenwriter Robert Anderson and actor Ben Gazarra.
Her final significant other was Dutch actor Robert Wolders, who she met in 1980. While they never married, they were together until her death in 1993 from cancer of the appendix. She called her years with Wolders the happiest of her life in a 1989 interview with Barbara Walters.
Hepburn's later life and charity work
In 1966, the actress decided to put her career on the back burner and spend more time with her family. When her two sons were older, she re-entered the public domain, but this time as a special ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund. She went on several trips as a UNICEF ambassador.
"I can testify to what UNICEF means to children, because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after World War II. I have a long-lasting gratitude and trust for what UNICEF does." As a result of her work for UNICEF over subsequent years, that gratitude is mutual," she said when she was made a Goodwill Ambassador in 1989.
Her work as an actress might have been done but she continued to live as a public figure and travel as an ambassador, impacting young lives everywhere.
"I myself was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it. That's what I'd like to think maybe has been the appeal. People have recognized something in me they have themselves - the need to receive affection and the need to give it. Does that sound soppy?" she asked.
